I spoke to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times about the upcoming Ohio primary as a test of Trump’s political standing. As I told Maggie, for all the talk of his diminished clout in races like GAGOV and ALSEN, Ohio and North Carolina stand to be a better barometer of his enduring pull.
Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist and former top aide at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that while Mr. Trump’s approach with his endorsements has been fairly random in recent months, the Vance endorsement is different because of the composition of the primary. “This is the first time Trump’s political might has been tested on a level playing field among broadly acceptable candidates,” Mr. Donovan said.
In both Ohio and North Carolina, Mr. Donovan said, “the Trump nod may lift his picks from the middle of the pack to victory over established favorites with lengthy statewide resumes. That would be an objectively impressive display of power.”
Read the full piece here.